TDP chief stopped from raising Telangana issue, walks out of NIA meet

New Delhi: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday walked out of the National Integration Council (NIA) meeting when he was not allowed to raise the issue of the proposed bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.

The former Andhra Pradesh chief minister wanted a discussion over the current situation in the state following the Congress party's decision to carve out a separate Telangana state. He told reporters later that United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Finance Minister P Chidambaram stopped him from speaking on the issue. He termed their action as unfortunate.

"Is it not the issue to discuss at NIA", he asked. Naidu said Seemandhra (Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra) was "burning because of the political game being played by the Congress party".

He was referring to the ongoing protests in the two regions to oppose the Congress Working Committee's decision to bifurcate the state. Blaming the Congress party for the uncertainty prevailing in the state, Naidu said that the Centre was not trying to find a solution.

The TDP chief stressed the need for the Centre to call leaders from Seemandhra and Telangana for talks to end the uncertainty.